


0 Mile

by Mansaeboysbe



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 22:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mansaeboysbe/pseuds/Mansaeboysbe
Summary: This was their routine. Everyday, without fail, the two would meet up and keep each other updated on their lives.





	0 Mile

**Author's Note:**

> -Admin Mari

“Hey!” Johnny smiled at her as she pulled up a chair.

It was fairly cold in their usual meeting place as the windows were open, but the sound of birds chirping outside made her hold in her protests.

She smiled in return and gave a greeting of her own before turning her attention to the world outside the window. The sun was shining and people walked about in the chilly Autumn air as (Y/n) and Johnny sat inside, surrounded by beige walls and framed art.

This was their routine. Every day, without fail, the two would meet up and keep each other updated on their lives. It had begun about a month ago when they had both decided that seeing each other once a week was not enough. They had discussed moving in together, but one by one their efforts failed due to several problems arising. So the two settled for getting together every day and keeping each other company, if only for a short while.

A blonde woman came over to them, distracting (Y/n) for a moment more. The woman came up to Johnny and immediately started up a conversation without so much of a glance toward her, but, in all honesty, she didn’t feel any jealousy. She knew Johnny was sociable and that the words spoken between them were meaningless. The woman left after a minute but soon came back with their usual.

(Y/n) had seen her almost every day because the times that she and Johnny met up always overlapped with her shift.

When the woman left, Johnny turned his attention back to (Y/n).

“How have you been?” he asked, a smile tugging at his lips as he asked the question he started with every day.

“Same as before. What about you? Better than yesterday?”

He shrugged.

“I feel better but nothing gets completely better overnight, you know?”

She understood. He had been upset the day before, mostly from stress, but had still insisted they meet up, claiming her presence would help no matter what she thought.

After that, she diverted the conversation elsewhere in hopes of not making those feelings resurface. Their time spent together was peaceful and they liked to keep it that way as much as possible.

He reached forward and grasped her hand in his large one, sending all his love for her through that single touch. Only to ruin it by using a pick-up line on her.

She groaned and swatted his shoulder but laughed a little nonetheless.

“Thank goodness you didn’t use that line to ask me out, otherwise we wouldn’t be together.”

“You love it, though, and me,” he said, grinning broadly.

“Only a little bit,” she replied.

His thumb rubbed circles on the back of her hand and he reclined back in his seat. For a moment it was quiet between them as he simply gazed at her instead of cracking jokes. She could tell that he wasn’t even really thinking about anything and was just taking in the moment, as she was.

It was generally rare for silence to settle between them, but neither saw it as a bad thing. In fact, (Y/n) thought it was nice to have a break from constantly feeling the need to fill the space. For the moment, the two could sit and pretend nothing was wrong, that everything was fine and all their problems simply didn’t exist.

“I love you,” Johnny murmured. There was a lilt to the way he spoke as if exhaustion had settled into his being and he was expelling his words in a sigh.

“I love you, too.”

The corners of his lips quirked up and he glanced at the clock at the wall.

“It’s almost nine.”

“I should be going,” (Y/n) said, stretching her arms over her head, “I still have to stop by the store on the way home.”

She stood and walked around to where he was sitting before leaning down and kissing Johnny.

“You should bring me chocolate tomorrow,” he said.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes but made a mental note to pick some up. She kissed him once more and then waved goodbye to him as she walked out, the door slamming shut behind her.

She returned the next day with the chocolates despite how much she knew he should probably be cutting back on all sugary substances. It was hard to say no to him.

-

As the weeks began to pass, winter continued to creep in until it was cold enough for everything to freeze. Yet, despite the temperature, (Y/n) found herself walking outside with Johnny at his insistence.

He had brought what seemed to be about thirty or so blankets with him. So along with the many layers of clothing, both had multiple blankets wrapped around them as well.

“This was a bad idea,” (Y/n) said while shivering.

He didn’t try to argue with her but instead reached beyond all the fabric and held her hand, moving closer to her in the process. They were huddled together as they shuffled along down the sidewalk. The sun had begun to sink below the horizon and she knew it would get even colder than before.

“Just a little longer, please?” he begged. “We won’t be able to walk outside much more after this.”

She looked up at him and her heart clenched slightly. She nodded and they continued along for a while more.

(Y/n) didn’t know whether or not to be surprised when a dusting of snow began to fall from the clouds above. It wasn’t a lot and it melted as soon as it touched the ground, but it was still snow.

She held her hand out and glanced at Johnny who had his tongue sticking out to catch the falling flakes. He looked like a child, in her mind. Like a really tall child. His eyes held wonder and when he looked at her she could see the excitement that was practically radiating off of him like heat.

He never once let go of her hand through the whole thing and instead insisted that they start again on their walk to get the full effect of the winter weather.

For a while more they walked among snow, underneath bare trees, together, hand in hand.

Only when both of them were shivering uncontrollably did they go inside. They peeled the several layers of blankets off and sat down in their usual spots. After a minute, (Y/n) went and bought tea for them to drink and they sat trying to warm themselves up.

The drinks did help and slowly the cold burn of their hands subsided enough for them to wiggle their fingers. They spent the rest of the evening discussing the snow outside and when the appropriate time to start to play Christmas music is.

They continued this until Johnny again noticed the time and (Y/n) had to make a quick exit, leaving Johnny behind to sip his drink alone for a while more.

She always remembered to kiss him goodbye, though, and the dialogue between each kiss was always different. This time around Johnny had asked if she would be warm enough, to which she responded with an affirmative.

Her jacket was never enough, as she experienced again walking home that night, but she didn’t want to worry him.

-

As the holidays passed it became easier for the two to visit every day again.

The two had decided against Christmas presents this year since neither could really afford them, but they spent the day together eating an assortment of sweets (Y/n) had picked up on the way there.

It was the middle of January when Johnny suddenly exclaimed that he could “mathematically prove that the Pyramids were built by aliens.” He had then asked for a pen and paper and, when (Y/n) complied, wrote a bunch of random equations down that she didn’t understand. He tried again and again to explain it but eventually gave up with a laugh. He ruffled her hair and said that maybe only true geniuses could understand his logic.

She had smiled and agreed, listening to more of his crazy theories as he spouted them off, one after another.

It seemed to her that his days of being completely lucid were gone.

(Y/n) knew that the last couple of days had been really hard for him and they were definitely taking their toll. In between random spurts of the conversation he would sometimes just stare off into space or at the wall.

She didn’t think he was really contemplating anything but instead trying to rest his mind from the insanity that seemed to be overtaking it. Sometimes she would try to distract him and sometimes she let him be. Her instincts told her that her intervention would only help to a certain degree.

-

When his birthday rolled around they met up again and he had been so excited to see her that he began slurring Korean and English together. She had been gone for five days to visit her parents but had rushed back in time to celebrate with him.

He pulled her chair closer to him and kept her hands firmly grasped in his.

She had to calm him down and even when he was sitting still, he kept switching languages. It was a while before he was able to just speak one and she stayed patient, listening to his stories and laughing at all of the things that had happened the previous days.

He begged her to tell him what she did and he listened attentively, gazing lovingly at her the entire time.

It was almost like she had never left.

-

At the beginning of March, Johnny got less and less talkative. When (Y/n) asked him why, he simply replied, “I love listening to your voice. I don’t know why I hadn’t done this before.”

“What? Stop talking?” she asked.

“No, start listening.”

He smiled at her and tapped his fingers on the edge of his cup lightly.

“Can you tell me a story?”

“About what?” She looked at him, slightly confused at his request.

“Tell me about how we met,” he said.

“But you know how the story goes,” she replied, laughing.

“Yeah, but I only know my side. I’ve never heard it from you.”

“Well,” she began, biting her lip slightly, “there was this really cute guy who kept coming into the restaurant I worked at.”

“Me!” Johnny interjected.

“Actually, no, his name was Ten.”

He narrowed his eyes and scoffed at the sound of his best friend’s name.

“But,” she continued, “it turned out he had a girlfriend already. He would bring her in on occasion, as well as this really tall guy that told too many puns.”

Johnny pouted.

“Over time I found out he was actually really funny and he was definitely handsome, so I was kind of excited when he would come in and request to sit in my area.

“Eventually he worked up the nerve to ask for my number after I dropped about 200 hints that I liked him,” (Y/n) said. She laughed as Johnny continued to make indignant noises throughout. “He managed to impress me on the first date, though, with all his stories and charisma. So I let him stick around.”

“I like my version better,” he stated, crossing his arms.

“I like when you tell stories. They always turn out better,” she countered.

He smiled and she leaned into him. He placed a kiss on her forehead and the two sat in silence for a while.

“I love you so much. You know that right?” he asked.

“I love you, too.”

She sniffled and he wiped her tears away as quickly as they came.

-

Johnny died just before spring was in full bloom.

It was weird to (Y/n) to not visit him every day as she had done for months. She missed their conversations and their silences, which had always been filled with the sound of his heart monitor. Now everything just felt empty.

(Y/n) returned to the hospital the morning after he passed. She knew that even looking like a mess, which was definite since she had spent the whole night crying, she had to pick up his belongings from the nurses’ station.

As she walked down the tiled hallway, box in hand, she thought of the last couple of months. The worst part had been watching him slowly lose to the tumor that plagued his brain, no matter how hard he fought with treatment. It had brought them together, but in the end, it tore them apart.

She felt a few tears slip down her face as she walked out of their usual meeting place for the last time.


End file.
